Phelu Khan, the man who was lynched to death by a mob of 'gau rakshaks' in Alwar for transporting cattle in 2017, was posthumously charged for cow smuggling by the Rajasthan Police on Saturday, June 29.
Khan was charged under section 6 and his son Irsad, 25, and Arif, 22, were charged under sections 5, 8 and 9 of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act.
The chargesheet was prepared in December 2018, days after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's government came into power in Rajasthan. It was presented in the court of the Additional Chief Magistrate in Behror on May 29.
Irshad told The Indian Express, "We lost our father in the attack by cow vigilantes and now we have been charged as cow smugglers. We had hoped that the new Congress government in Rajasthan will review and withdraw the case against us but now a chargesheet has been filed against us. We hoped for justice after the government change but that didn't happen."
The FIR registered in the case involved charges for beating the victim to death as well as against the victim and his family for transporting cattle illegally out of the state.
Khan's associates Azmat, Rafique, Arjun and Jagdish were also charged under the RBA.
Rajasthan BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja said that the victim and his family were "habitual offender." He said "Locals caught Pehlu Khan's vehicle in which he was smuggling cows and they had only stopped them. He died in police custody; locals hadn't beaten him. Now when chargesheet has been filed against him, Congress is taking credit. But Congress then gave financial help to his family," reported The Indian Express.
